English - Multilingualism, Migration and Marginalized Voices on Social Media

Supervisor: Dr Ursula Kania

Bio: I'm a linguist with expertise in corpus linguistics, discourse analysis and approaches combining the two (primarily corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis).
My PhD (2013) was in the area of First Language Acquisition, and I'm still interested in language acquisition (both first and second), especially bi/multilingualism, and issues around language and identity.

My most recent research mainly investigates representation, discrimination, and power, with a particular focus on LGBTQIA+/gender issues, minorities/marginalised groups, and the relationship between food and identity. For example, in 2022 I published a book chapter examining representations of female singleness in American cookbooks for one.

Email: ursula.kania@liverpool.ac.uk

School: Arts

Department: English

Module code: SOTA350

Suitable for students of: Students from English Language or Linguistics programmes would be ideal, but the project is potentially also suitable for students of sociology, cultural studies, or related subject areas. 

Desired experience or requirements:

Essential: Literacy, esp. Digital literacy (MS Office, esp. Excel/Word); Problem-solving/critical thinking; Self-management (time management, initiative)

Desirable: Some knowledge of/previous experience with applying corpus linguistic methods and/or (critical) discourse analysis. Experience with using corpus analysis software (such as AntConc) and qualitative analysis software (NVivo).

Places available: 2

Start Dates: 16 June 2025 only

Virtual option: Yes - In Person, Hybrid, and Virtual

Project length: 4 weeks 

Project description:

This case study on discussions of migration & (linguistic) discrimination on Reddit is situated within the larger project ‘Multilingualism, Migration and Marginalized Voices on Social Media’, which is associated with the English Department’s Sociolinguistics and Multilingualism research cluster and the Language, Data and Society (LANDS) research centre. On the whole, the project aims to investigate how (second) language learning, bilingualism, and multilingualism are discussed on social media. Using tools associated with corpus-assisted critical discourse studies, the focus of the analyses is on how speakers discuss potentially sensitive issues around language learning and use, and what kinds of (marginalized) identities, stances, and voices emerge in these discussions. The case study to be conducted for this placement involves the analysis of 13 posts and more than 3,500 associated comments discussing migration/discrimination, published on Reddit (a social media platform with over 100,000 active communities and 57 million daily active unique users; Reddit Press 2021). The posts are from the AITA (=’Am I the Asshole?’) subreddit, which is a forum for users to ask controversial questions and discuss moral dilemmas (e.g., ‘AITA for saying I couldn’t stand it if my child got my girlfriend’s “accent” ’). The dataset has already been extracted (using RedditExtractoR package for R; Rivera 2022), so the next steps will involve simple (automated) quantitative analyses (e.g., keywords, collocations, word frequencies, sentiment) and using the software NVivo for in-depth (manual) qualitative coding and analysis (in terms of dominant themes/discourses; Fairclough, 2010). The aim is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the dataset, including an exploration of the assumptions/ideologies underlying particular stances (e.g., standard language ideologies). Work on the other two strands of the project (using 'multilingual parenting' and 'language learning' data from Reddit, respectively) is already in progress, and the associated documentation and outputs can be used as guidance. References: Fairclough, N. (2010). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. 2nd edition. New York: Longman. Rivera, I. (2022). ‘Package ‘RedditExtractoR’. Available at: RedditExtractoR: Reddit Data Extraction Toolkit (r-project.org).

Additional requirements: A 'starter pack' (with introductory readings/further information) will be provided at the beginning of the project - it will be tailored to the students' background/previous experience and ongoing support will be offered as needed.